After watching defencemen Chris Phillips and Patrick Wiercioch drop the gloves in the last two games trying to protect their teammates, the Senators acquired heavyweight Matt Kassian from the Minnesota Wild for a sixth-round pick.

"I'm not coming in to be a goal scorer, I can tell you that," Kassian told the Sun Tuesday from Houston, home of Minnesota's AHL affiliate. "I have no visions of grandeur about that. You want to make everyone on the ice on your side grow a couple of inches.

"You want to have a presence. You want a nuclear deterrent on the ice and a physical presence towards the other team. I can finish my checks. I'm not going to do something crazy or something outside of my skill set."

The 26-year-old Kassian, who has 505 penalty minutes in 229 AHL games, will join the Senators Wednesday in Ottawa. He'll be a welcome addition because the club needs the element of toughness in a difficult Northeast Division.

"I'm extremely excited," Kassian, an Edmonton native making $575,000 this season, said. "The dream is to play for a team in Canada. Great crowds and it's a great organization. I played one of my first NHL games in Ottawa. It's a beautiful city.

"It wasn't surprising. I've only heard great things about Ottawa. I've been texting back and forth with Guillaume (Latendresse) over the past little while."

Senators GM Bryan Murray said the club needs Kassian.

"He's a big, strong guy. Very physical and willing combatant," said Murray. "With the number of injuries and young players we have on our roster, there's got to be a sense of comfort that they can go out and play without being pushed around.

"We just felt there was need. We hope he'll be able to work with our team."